Knitted edging for a fabric or garment

ABSTRACT

The knitted edging is adapted to form the trim along the edge of a garment and is folded lengthwise with opposite edge portions straddling the portion of the garment to which it is to be attached. The edging has a non-raveling selvedge along one edge and the opposite edge portion has a course of stitch loops which will ravel. An adjacent pair of courses of stitch loops is spaced inwardly from the ravel edge and are knit to face in opposite directions providing a hinged fold line to cause the portion of the edging from the ravel edge to the fold line to fold inwardly against the back side of the edging so that it may be easily attached to the garment with a line of stitching. The ravel edge is then positioned under one side of the edging material and is protected and hidden from view.

United States Patent 1 Arndt [111 3,812,692 [45] May 28, 1974 [54] KNITTED EDGING FOR A FABRIC 0R GARMENT [76] Inventor: Werner Arndt, Geitbeck 2, 5870 Hemer, Germany [22] Filed: Feb. 15, 1972 [21] Appl. No.1 226,616

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 18, 1971 'Germany..... 2107722 Aug. 28, 1971 Germany 2143225 [52] US. 61. 66/172 R, 66/199 [51] Int. Cl D04b 9/46 [58] Field of Search 66/172, 199, 200

[56] 1 References Cited f UNITED STATES PATENTS 869,986 11 1907 Scott ..L 66/199 1,305,446 6/1919 Davidson et a1. 66/199 2,981,086 4/1961 Ludwig. 66/172 3,376,717 4/1968 Scheller et al...........;..., 66/199 Mt /5L!! OE le'o- Q/QY U Ql Primary ExaminerRonald Feldbaum Attorney, Agent, or FirmAllison C. Collard [57] ABSTRACT v The knitted edging is adapted to form the trim along the edge of a garment and is folded lengthwise with opposite edge portions straddling the portion of the garment to which it is to be attached.The edging has a non-raveling selvedge alongone edge and the opposite edge portion has a course of stitch loops which will ravel. An adjacent pair of courses of stitch loops is spaced inwardly from the ravel edge and are knit to face in opposite directions providing a hinged fold line to cause the portion of the edging from the ravel edge to the fold line to fold inwardly against the back side of the edging so that it may be easily attached to the garment with a line of stitching. The raveledge is then positioned under one side of the edging material and is protected and hidden from view.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures we we M45 \\/-5 W This invention relates generally to a knitted edging for garments and the method of forming the same and more particularly to an edging which may be economically attached to the garment, as by a sewing operation.

It is the usual practice to attach the edging trim to various types of garments, such as sweaters, shirts and the like by a looping operation. This operation requires that the edges of the edging material and the edge of the garment be manually placed on the points of a looper and in proper relationship to the edge of the garment. This operation is time consuming and requires highly skilled operators, all of which increases the cost of production of such garments.

In accordance with the present invention, the knitte edging may be economically attached to a garment by an operator having very little prior training and in a simple manner, as by sewing, cementing or fusing.

In accordance with the present invention, the main body of the edging may be knit with any desired type of stitch loop construction, such as a ribbed or 'plain knit, and a nonravel selvedge is provided along one edge while a ravel edge is provided along the opposite edge. A folded edge portion is provided adjacent the ravel edge by knitted an adjacent pair of courses with the stitch loops of one course facing in one direction and the stitch loops of the adjacent course facing in the opposite direction .to produce a natural fold or hinge line. Thus, the folded edge portion of the fabric extending from the fold line to the ravel edge will easily and naturally fold to theback side of the fabric. The edging is then folded lengthwise so that opposite edge portions straddle the edges of the garment to which the edging is to be attached with the ravel edge folded upwardly and under the edging so that it may be easily attached to the garment by a simple sewing operation. The edging of the present invention thus provides a considerable savings of time, when compared with the conve'ntional looping of the edging material to the garment.

In accordance with a further feature of the present invention, the courses of stitch loops forming the folded over portion of the edging and extending from the fold line to-the ravel edge are knit of a yarn of lower denier then the yarn of which the remainder of the edging is knit so that the portion of the edging having the folded under portion is not substantially thicker than the edge portion having the selvedge edge.

The edging material may be knit of the desired width and on a two-bed knitting machine with any desired stitch loop pattern construction in the main body portion and successive knitted edgings may be knit and joined together during the knitting process for easy separation and subsequent attachment to the garment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention vwill appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. I is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the garment. illustrating the knitted edging of the present invention attached thereto as by a sewing operation and with a portion of the edging being unfolded to illustrate the manner in which the ravel edge portion folds back under and against the back side of the edg- FIG. 2 is a somewhat schematical vertical sectional view through the edging and a portion of the garment,

. 2 being taken substantially along the line 22 in FIG. Ii

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of a plurality of the knitted edgings and illustrating the manner in which they are joined together by separating courses during the knitting operation; and

FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary elevational view of that portion of an edging enclosed in the rectangle 4 in FIG. 3.

The knitted edging includes a face side F and a back side B and is formed of successive courses of weft knit stitch loops. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the knitted edging is adapted to be folded lengthwise with the face side F outwardly and the folded edging straddling the edge portions of the garment G to which it is to be attached.

The edging includes a non-raveling selvedge or makeup 10 along one edge. The non-raveling selvedge or make-up is formed in the usual manner at the beginning of the knitting of the strip of knitted edging. The other edge comprises a course of stitch loops 11 which will ravel and this-course is the terminal course knit in the knitted edging. The course of stitch loops which will ravel, along the other edge 11, is of the type illustrated at the bottom of FIG. 4 as course C-7.

An adjacent pair of courses of stitch loops, such as courses C-4 and C-5 of FIG. 4, is spaced inwardly the desired distance from the ravel edge 11 with the stitch loops of the first course C-4 being formed to the face side F of the edging and the stitch loops of the second of the pair of courses C-S being formed to the back side B of the edging so that the stitch loops of these two adjacent courses are joined along a fold or hinge line indi cated by the dash-dot line H in FIG. -4'. These two courses of stitch loops facing in opposite directions cause the portion of the edging from this hinge line H to the ravel edge 11 to fold under and against the back side of the edging to provide a folded edge portion, as indicated in FIG. 2. Thus, the course of stitch loops which will ravel along the rave] edge 11 is positioned up inside of the edging and protected and hidden from view when the edging is folded lengthwise and attached to the garment edge, as by a line of stitching, indicated at 12 in FIG. 1 and schematically in FIG. 2 by the dashdot line.

Thus, the knitted edging of the presentinvention has i a non-raveling selvedge along one'edge l0 and the ravel edge 11 folds under against the back side of the fabric so that when the edging is folded lengthwise, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and suitably attached, as by the row' of stitching 12, to the garment edge G, the ravel edge 11 is maintained up inside of the edging material and will not ravel. This edging may thus be attached by a simple sewing operation and by an operator having very little prior training. The attached edging has substantially the same appearance as an edging attached by the prior looping method but does not require the time consuming placement of the loops on the points of a looper.

METHOD or KNITTING- facing stitch loops. Also, the knitting of the edging will be described as if the successive edgings were knit and joined with suitable separator courses.

The successive edges are knit from top to bottom of FIG. 3 and thek'njitting begins with the formation of a nonraveling selvedge course or make-up edge 10, which is formed in a conventional and well-known manner. The main body of the edging, as illustrated in FIGS. 3' and 4, is knit of a 2 X 2 rib pattern with wales W-l, W-2 and W-S, MS of courses C-1, C-2 and C-3 being knit on needles on the front bed while wales W-3 and W-4 of these courses are knit on needles in the back bed. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, the stitch loops in wales W- l, W-2 and W-S, W-6, of courses C-l, C-2 and C-3 face forwardly while thestitch loops in wales W-3, W-4 of these courses face rearwardly. i Upon the completion of the knitting of the main body of the edging, all the stitch loops, as illustrated in course C- 4, are knit on needles in the front needle bed to produce a course having the same number of wales the needles of one needle bed to adjacent needles of l the same needle bed to double them together before forming the folded edge portion so that a lesser number of wales are knit in the folded edge portion of the edging than the number of wales knit in the main body portion of the edging.

While it is intended that the edging will be normally attached to the garment edge G by a simple sewing operation, such as with the line of stitching 12, it is also as course C-3 and having forwardlyfacing stitch loops 7 in'every wale. During the knitting of the next adjacent course, as illustrated in course C-S, all the stitch loops are transferred to and formed on the needles in the rear bed so that all of the stitch loops face rearwardly as the yard is drawn through the needle loops in a reverse direction. This transferring of the knitting of stitch loops from the needles in the front needle-bed (course C4) to by knit on the needles in the rear needle bed (course C-S) provides a fold or hinge line H along the juncture of these two courses so that the folded edge portion naturally foldsback under and against the back side of the edging, as indicated in FIG. 2.

The remaining courses which form the folded edge portion of the edging, indicated at courses C-6 and G7 are knit on the needles of the frontneedle bed so that these stitch loops face forwardly. Of course, any desired number of courses may be knit to form the folded edge portion. A pair of separator courses, indicated at 14 in FIG; 3 is then knit of any desired type of yarn, which may be soluble yarn. A separator panel 15 may then be knitof any suitable yarn and is adapted to be discarded when the edgings are separated. A loose drawn course 16 is then formed to connect the separator panel l5 and thenon-ravel selvedge ormake-up edge l0-of the next successive edging to be knit.

As illustrated in FIG; 4, it is preferred that the stitch loops in the courses from the'hinge line H to the ravel edge 11 of the fabric be knit of a yarn of lower denier than the yarn of which the remainder of the edging is knit so that the folded-edge portion of the edging will not add substantially to the thickness of the material when the edging-is folded lengthwise, as indicated in FIG. I, and attached to the. garment edge by the line of stitching 12. Also, the thickness of the folded edge portion maybe reduced by knitting a lesser number of wales in the courses forming the folded edge portion than the number of wales knit in the main body of the edging..This may be accomplished in a well-known manner, by transferring the loops in spaced wales from possible to attach the edging to the garment G by ce menting, fusing or the like. In any event, the naturally inwardly folded edge portion and ravel edge 11 will be positioned under one side of the edging and will be hidden from view and protected so that it may not ravel. The outwardly appearance of the edging of the present invention, when attached to the garment, is substantially indistinguishable from an edging which has been attached by the-conventional time consuming looping method. I In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

' I claim:' r

I. A knitted edging including a face side and a back side and being adapted to form the trim along the edge of a garment, said edging comprising a strip of weft knit material formed of successive courses of stitch loops and being adapted to be folded lengthwise with the face sideoutwardly and the folded strip straddling the edge of the portion of the garment to which it is to be attached, saidv edging including t a a non-raveling selvedge along one edge,

b the other edge comprising a course of stitch loops which will ravel, and l v c an adjacent pair of courses of stitch loops spaced inwardly from said other edge, the'stitch loops of the first of said pair of courses being'formed to the face side of said edging, and the stitch loops of the second of said pair of courses being formed to the back side of said edging to cause the portion of said edging from said other edge to the juncture of said adjacent pair of courses to fold under and against said back side of said edging so that said course of stitch loops which will ravel is positioned inside of the folded edging when attached to the garment.

2. A knitted edging according to claim 1 wherein the stitch loops in the courses from said adjacent pair of courses to said course of stitch loops which will ravel at said other edge are knit of a yarn of lower denier than the yarn of which the remainder of said edging is knit. i

3. A method of knitting an edging having a face side and a back side and being adapted to form the trim along the edge of a garment, sai'dmethod comprising the steps of v a weft knitting a plurality of successive courses of stitch loops selectively facing the front and backsides of the edging to form the mainbody of the edging, b knitting a single course with all stitch loops that were knit in said successive courses being formed to the face side of, the edging, c knitting the next adjacent course with all stitch loops being formed tothe back side of the edging,

d knitting additional courses to a terminal course which will ravel, the adjacent courses of oppositely facing stitch loops providing a hinge line whereby the fabric from the hinge line to the rave] course folds under against the back side of the edging.

4. A method of knitting according to claim 3 wherein courses (c) and (d) are knit of a lower denier yarn than the courses (a).

5. A method of knitting an edging for garments on a weft knitting machine having front and rear, beds of needles and comprising the steps of a knitting a plurality of successive courses of stitch loops on selective needles of the front and back beds to form the main body portion of the edging,

b transferring the stitch loops knit on the needles of the back bed in courses (a) to needles of the front bed,

c knitting a course of stitch loops on the needles of the front bed only to form stitch loops to the face side of the edging,

d transferring the stitch loops knit on the needles of the front bed in course to the needles of the rear bed, l

e knitting a course of stitch loops on the needles of the rear bed only to form stitch loops facing the rear side of theedging,

f transferring the stitch loops knit on the needles of the rear bed in courses (e) to needles of the front bed,

6 ing.

6. A method according to claim 5 comprising the successive knitting of a plurality of said edgings and including the step of f knitting separating means between said terminal course (e) of each edging and the initial course of the main body portion of the next succeeding edgmg.

7. A method according to claim 6 wherein the knitting of said separating means comprises the steps of g knitting a pair of separator courses,

h knitting a separator panel, and

i knitting a draw course connecting said separation panel and the initial course of the main body portion of the next succeeding edging.

8. A method of knitting an edging for garments on a weft knitting machine having front and rear beds of needles and comprising the steps of i a knitting a plurality of successive courses of stitc loops on selective needles of the front and back beds to form the main body portion of the edging,

b transferring those stitch loops knit on the needlesof the front bed in courses (a) to needles of the rear bed,

c knitting a course of stitch loops on the needles of the rear bed-only to form a course of stitch loops facing the rear side of the edging,

d knitting additional courses to form an intermediate edge portion, and v e knitting a terminal course which will ravel, the courses (c), (d) and (e) forming an edge portion folded-up under themain body portion of said edging. 

1. A knitted edging including a face side and a back side and being adapted to form the trim along the edge of a garment, said edging comprising a strip of weft knit material formed of successive courses of stitch loops and being adapted to be folded lengthwise with the face side outwardly and the folded strip straddling the edge of the portion of the garment to which it is to be attached, said edging including a a non-raveling selvedge along one edge, b the other edge comprising a course of stitch loops which will ravel, and c an adjacent pair of courses of stitch loops spaced inwardly from said other edge, the stitch loops of the first of said pair of courses being formed to the face side of said edging, and the stitch loops of the second of said pair of courses being formed to the back side of said edging to cause the portion of said edging from said other edge to the juncture of said adjacent pair of courses to fold under and against said back side of said edging so that said course of stitch loops which will ravel is positioned inside of the folded edging when attached to the garment.
 2. A knitted edging according to claim 1 wherein the stitch loops in the courses from said adjacent pair of courses to said course of stitch loops which will ravel at said other edge are knit of a yarn of lower denier than the yarn of which the remainder of said edging is knit.
 3. A method of knitting an edging having a face side and a back side and being adapted to form the trim along the edge of a garment, said method comprising the steps of a weft knitting a plurality of successive courses of stitch loops selectively facing the front and back sides of the edging to form the main body of the edging, b knitting a single course with all stitch loops that were knit in said successive courses being formed to the face side of the edging, c knitting the next adjacent course with all stitch loops being formed to the back side of the edging, and d knitting additional courses to a terminal course which will ravel, the adjacent courses of oppositely facing stitch loops providing a hinge line whereby the fabric from the hinge line to the ravel course folds under against the back side of the edging.
 4. A method of knitting according to claim 3 wherein courses (c) and (d) are knit of a lower denier yarn than the courses (a).
 5. A method of knitting an edging for garments on a weft knitting machine having front and rear beds of needles and comprising the steps of a knitting a plurality of successive courses of stitch loops on selective needles of the front and back beds to form the main body portion of the edging, b transferring the stitch loops knit on the needles of the back bed in courses (a) to needles of the front bed, c knitting a course of stitch loops on the needles of the front bed only to form stitch loops to the face side of the edging, d transferring the stitch loops knit on the needles of the front bed in course (c) to the needles of the rear bed, e knitting a course of stitch loops on the needles Of the rear bed only to form stitch loops facing the rear side of the edging, f transferring the stitch loops knit on the needles of the rear bed in courses (e) to needles of the front bed, g knitting additional courses on the needles of the front bed, and h knitting a terminal course which will ravel, the courses (e), (g) and (h) forming an edge portion folded up under the main body portion of said edging.
 6. A method according to claim 5 comprising the successive knitting of a plurality of said edgings and including the step of f knitting separating means between said terminal course (e) of each edging and the initial course of the main body portion of the next succeeding edging.
 7. A method according to claim 6 wherein the knitting of said separating means comprises the steps of g knitting a pair of separator courses, h knitting a separator panel, and i knitting a draw course connecting said separation panel and the initial course of the main body portion of the next succeeding edging.
 8. A method of knitting an edging for garments on a weft knitting machine having front and rear beds of needles and comprising the steps of a knitting a plurality of successive courses of stitch loops on selective needles of the front and back beds to form the main body portion of the edging, b transferring those stitch loops knit on the needles of the front bed in courses (a) to needles of the rear bed, c knitting a course of stitch loops on the needles of the rear bed only to form a course of stitch loops facing the rear side of the edging, d knitting additional courses to form an intermediate edge portion, and e knitting a terminal course which will ravel, the courses (c), (d) and (e) forming an edge portion folded up under the main body portion of said edging. 